NATO Accidentally Kills Karzai Relative

NATO says the matter is under investigation

(AP) - A NATO airstrike targeting insurgents inadvertently hit two civilian homes in the volatile southwestern Helmand province, killing 12 children and two women, an Afghan government official said today. He said the alliance launched the airstrike late yesterday in retaliation for an attack earlier in the day on a US Marine base. A NATO spokesman said a joint coalition and Afghan delegation was traveling to the site to investigate. More»

Villagers: 52 civilians killed in Helmand skirmish

(NEWSER) - Amidst the flood of leaked news of previously unreported civilian casualties in Afghanistan, angry Afghans say a NATO rocket attack on their Helmand province town on Friday deliberately targeted civilians, killing 52. "The foreign forces could see us," a villager who claims 17 members of his extended family were killed told the Guardian . NATO disputes the villagers' claims. "The team have not found any evidence to show that the civilians were killed," an investigator said. More»

Wayward strike further strains Afghan relations

(NEWSER) - A family of eight was killed in a coalition airstrike in eastern Afghanistan late last night, in the latest strain on US-Afghanistan relations, reports al-Jazeera . Local government officials said the man, his wife, and their six children were not affiliated with any anti-government group. "This man had no connection to the Taliban or any other terrorist group," said an official. A coalition spokesman said they were looking into the incident. More»

Reports vary, but murders could push US-Afghan relations to the brink

(NEWSER) - US and Afghan officials alike are scrambling in the wake of today's rampage that claimed the lives of 16 Afghan civilians , as relations between the two nations threaten to boil over. The latest reactions, along with emerging details:

• Reuters has the most incendiary report, alleging that more than one US servicemember was involved in the shooting spree, and that the Americans were "laughing and appeared drunk." "They were all drunk and shooting all over the place. Their bodies were riddled with bullets," a neighbor says. Adds a father who lost his children, "They (Americans) poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them."

Unknown number dead, wounded in early morning attack

(NEWSER) - A US soldier in southern Afghanistan has been detained after he walked off his base this morning, shooting and killing civilians in the area, reports the New York Times . At least 16 are dead in the rampage, reports the BBC , with many women and children among them. The soldier reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown, and left the base at around 3am by himself and walked into nearby homes, shooting whoever was there. "Eleven members of my family are dead. They are all dead," says one tribal elder. More»